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First post! Long post! Hired Swords expansion!


moonshine

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Hey there, forumites. I just got into Malifaux at the behest of my girlfriend (she tried Warmachine for me, I'm trying Malifaux for her.) I've never played this game before, although we're both "re"learning it since 2E dropped, anyway.

I've bought a crew - Hired Swords, the Viktorias - and a single model to accompany it (Vanessa, since lurking this forum led me to believe that more things in the crew with "Sister" as a type would probably be beneficial in the long run.)

My question is... how to take this to 50SS? A rough count up with the crew builder puts me at 32SS, or 36 if I swap out the Student for Vanessa - because another thing I think I put together from lurking is that I can't have both? (Is that a holdover from 1.x, because I can't find anything about it on Vanessa's 2.0 beta card?)

Regardless, 36SS =/= 50SS. Heck, even if I can have SoC and Vanessa in 2E, 40SS =/= 50SS.

...At this point, could someone teach me how upgrades work? I've got 10/14SS to fill before my crew is up at the level where my girlfriend wants to be playing.

Sorry to ask beginner questions, but my rules manual is in the post and I'm a wee bit impatient.

So... long story short: What would you add to Hired Swords + Vanessa to bring the crew up to 50SS? Just upgrades? New models? Which of each? If you do suggest a model, try to keep it to female sculpts - my girlfriend plays Colette, and we're keen on the idea of having two whole wargame armies with nary a male character to be seen - and the new plastics, if possible. The plastic thing is somewhat more mutable, the sculpts just seem to be a higher quality.

First post! Long post! Pre-emptive thanks for your replies and patience!

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Welcome to the game. The Viks were my first army in 1Ed Alright, I did a quick look for you and figured out that you should have enough upgrades to bring you up to a 50 pt game with a 7 SS Reserve left. That is so long as you also get the generic upgrades in the box (I cannot remember, I bought mine at GenCon, so it has been awhile).

Anyway, here are how upgrades work. Up to 3 upgrades on your Master, and 2 on each Henchy (Vik Blood and Taelor) with your Ronin getting no upgrades. As a side note, Enforcers can have 1 upgrade. That should give you the basic idea on how to work that. If you need more help, I can break it down further for you, using the crew creator, it should make it work for you.

Now, looking at add-ons: You got Vanessa, she is totally solid, can give you a few options for attack or defense, and she matches your theme well. Since you want to keep it female, the next two models you want to look at are the Freikorps Librarian and Hannah (not released yet). The Librarian can heal, and Hannah can help buff your models to make the Viks even more killy than before. If you want some solid range, pick up Lazarus. "He" got turned into a robot and has no real identifying sex. So it may fit your criteria. Killjoy is a guy, but makes for an awesome missile to flatten your enemies with.

Lastly, Wyrd makes some conversion bits, along with other developers. You can take any female model in the game and convert some weapons around. This will let you take a male model and field a female version of it on the table.

I hope this helps some, if you have anymore questions, keep asking!

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Thanks for the quick response! I guess the only questions left now are:

How strict are the conversion rules in Malifaux? I know that in 40k it's something like "field whatever you want, I don't care if you glue Lego minifigs to the base" and in WM/H it's "use the exact model, with the exact weapons, held in the proper hands." How much converting can I do before people raise eyebrows at me?

Where can I get my hands on "generic" upgrades? I'm pretty sure that the crew box only comes with Viktoria-specific upgrades. I can't be certain until my parcel arrives (should be in the next couple days) and I crack it open, but are they available to download anywhere just in case?

Oh! And other than fluff and art, is there anything I'm missing by getting the $15 in-stock rulebook instead of the $40 back-orders-for-days rulebook?

Again, thanks so much for responding. Feedback means a lot to me.

:D

The more I read about this game the more excited I get to play it. Any tips for a first timer?

Edited by moonshine
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My question is... how to take this to 50SS? A rough count up with the crew builder puts me at 32SS, or 36 if I swap out the Student for Vanessa - because another thing I think I put together from lurking is that I can't have both? (Is that a holdover from 1.x, because I can't find anything about it on Vanessa's 2.0 beta card?)

That IS a holdover from 1.5. In second edition, you can have Vanessa and the Totem in the same crew ;)

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Oh, I forgot Ama No Zako! She might be a good replacement for Killjoy since you want all females.

As for the conversion rules, I am not really sure. My group back in FL did not care and here in WA State, I only have one friend that I really play with. We are pretty unofficial, but we have plenty of fun and make a 3 day weekend of it. So I would not be able to answer that terribly well.

The "generic upgrades" can be found in an "Outcast Arsenal Box." That box will give you all the upgrades for the Wave 1 Outcasts. The box is pretty cheap, less than a single model, so it is great to use for practice and proxy.

The big book has ALL the Wave 1 upgrades and miniature cards for ALL the factions. They are not designed to be cut out or anything, but it is another great way to proxy things.

As for play tips, you might want to look at getting some ranged support. The Viks are heavy Melee and do not do the shooty shoot well. Hans, Freik Trapper, Convict Gunslinger and Lazarus all fill this role nicely. All male models (one being a construct) so it will limit your choices there. Keep in mind that the Viks are also very squishy. They hit like a freight train and squish like a penny on the tracks. I like to take Survivalist on my Vik Ashes. That is a generic upgrade that gives her Hard to Kill and a :+fate to healing flips. At a 1 SS cost, I think it is a good deal for keeping her around. I like Scramble on Taelor it gives her +1 Wk and Cg while ignoring severe terrain and with her 3 inch melee range, it makes her charge very very scary. Once Vanessa become a legal model, you can put Sisters of Fury on her to boost the dmg of the other Viks without having to sacrifice any actions for killing. Van can go to heal, place a marker, heal or attack after that, so it gives you plenty of support and you can follow it up with a lot of solid dmg from the main Sisters.

Keep in mind, those tips suit my particular play style. My best advice is to play a few friendly games (proxy if you have to) and try to win while being ready to loose. See what works and what does not. Take your hits, but get up and find some combos that you are comfortable with. Once you have two or three things you like, employ them together and make it your own.

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the generic upgrades will be in the arsenal deck for that faction, it actually has every upgrade and every card for all the wave 1 models in that faction... and priced at 8.00 USD...worth picking up for sure.

as to the mini rulebook, you have it right, just fluff and stats are missing. but all the rules are present and will hold you over til the big rulebook gets sorted.

--Woe

and ryoken beat me to it...lol

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Another ranged model, that fits the theme you would like is Rusty Alyce. She is Leve's henchwench, but her gun is really nice. She can take an upgrade that will allow some small summoning, or you can give her a generic, oathkeep would be best. Also she can hit hard in melee, and has a 3 inch no charge zone.

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Alright, just picked up my Arsenal deck, as well as the Arcanist one for my lady. We'll both need the Wave 2 packs when they come out (especially for her since she plays Colette,) but we have the beta documents to tide us over until then.

So... models, arsenal decks, Fate decks, tape measure, tokens, and blank bases to use as markers. Second edition rules manual is in the post. Met my local Henchman and found out when the FLGS plays 'faux.

Anything else I need, or are we ready to play?

Edited by moonshine
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  • 4 weeks later...

I too have a swordladies force and like the idea of an all-femme-fatale force. What I did to help expand numerically but keep the theme is use the old metal Taelor to become a desperate merc. (I bought the new and old Vik models because I am a sucker for shiny things...)

For the Freikorps trapper, if you want to keep 'it' female, get the Librarian and mod her gear to be more distinctly the trapper.

 

Conversion-wise, I'd say it truly depends on the crew you're with. I'm a huge conversion nut, and I have somewhat infected most of the people I play with. For us, as long as it's clear what something is (or if the conversion is badass enough) it's in. Some folks I know are a bit more exacting.

If your conversion skills are up to snuff, I say go for it. In some cases, the models' gear is such that their gender would be almost impossible to figure out: Guild Riflemen, the Freikorps strongarm, etc. spring to mind.

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Things I used to bump up my crew (In no particular order) -

 

Lazarus to tag team with Vanessa for some pretty sweet combos

Hans cause he's a dude!

Bishop because he is incredibly versatile.

Johan for condition removal and face beating goodness.

Anything Friekorps but specifically the Librarian as she can combine her heal with the Survivalist upgrade on Vik of Ashes for some uber crew wide heals. 

Convict Gunslingers put out some sick damage at range, worth it in almost any Outcast crew!

Sue for protection against casters and additional ranged support. 

Void Wretches for cheap objective running minions. 

Killjoy, why not?! He's a beast!

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Moonshine, you can find high-res, printable copies of all the Wave 2 stat cards (including Vanessa) here: http://wyrd-games.net/community/files/file/54-malifaux-wave-2-cards-high-rez/

 

The "official" rules say that everything must be scratchbuilt or a Wyrd model. However as far as I know that only applies to Gencon (the only "official" event). Any third-party event will probably be fine with proxies as long as it is clear what they are (e.g. no space marine as a ronin). The proxy rules are obviously lax for characters that have no miniature yet.

 

He isn't a girl (though I bet you could find an appropriate female proxy model), but Hans is an excellent addition. He is a master sniper that can add some excellent long-range firepower (18" base range, 36" with a focus) to your crew for assisination/reckoning missions.

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He isn't a girl (though I bet you could find an appropriate female proxy model), but Hans is an excellent addition. He is a master sniper that can add some excellent long-range firepower (18" base range, 36" with a focus) to your crew for assisination/reckoning missions.

 

Great idea in theory however there is one glaring weakness with using Hans for the Assassinate Scheme. For a fairly chunky cost of 2 cards being discarded enemy Masters can pay Hans not to shoot at them and the action is wasted. It's kind of the only defense Masters have against his "Smile You Son of a..." ability. 

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